Sega have again updated (gotta love their little ‘new’ icon, featuring our dear lil’ Yog!) their Shining Soul II Site,with some nice new additions! On the ‘Special’ page, there’s a cool new Yogurt desktop for you to download, and the ‘Power Up’ page has been updated with some new features:
- In the items section, ‘Santuary of Light’ item information has been added.
Apparently, items (some of which you would not normally be able to use) can be merged here – in groups of four – to make new (and rare) items. You may find out about such combinations in the towns you visit. Screenshots show a simple proceedure for this – place the four items on pedestools, confirm you want to combine them, and a new item will appear for you on the fifth pedestal at the back of the Sanctuary.
- The ‘Shine Force’ section now includes instructions for activating the joint player powers…
If all four players press the A button simulaneously, a ball of light called the ‘Shine Force’ will appear imbetween the players. The ‘Shine Force’ can then, it seems, be used by moving players around… it can open doors which would otherwise not be able to be opened in Single Player mode (without the ‘Shine Force’ power)
- A new section has been added – ‘Competition Place’…
A nice new feature to the game – the Royal Competition Place, is a combat ground where one may battle monsters to gain items, or to battle against other players. In Single Player mode you pay 100G to enter the contest. As you defeat the monsters, you’ll rise through the ranks and be able to battle tougher and tougher opponents to win the items shown onscreen. In Multiplayer Mode, there are three different ways to battle – 3 against 1; 2 against 2 or everyone battling one another. When battling other players, recovery magic can only be cast on your own ‘team’ (whether that be two other players, one, or just yourself), attack magic can be used only against the opposing team, and items can be used on any player. The screenshots illustrate a four player all-against-all battle. To start the contest, a judge stands in the middle of the arena and signals for the battle to begin. The third screenshot shows Sachs doing an explosive kick attack (sweet!) and the final shot shows Prim being spun around as a result of one of Ruin’s attacks!
Looks like some great new features – here’s hoping Sega Japan will allow me to preview the game, to give you the full lowdown!